Further Reminiscences. 127 



ings. They were followed by a one-legged 

 porter who owned a truck, on which the 

 larger articles were piled. Very proud they 

 were of their first little house, and here their 

 first child, Sydenham Dixon, was born in 

 May, 1848, an exceeding great joy to both 

 father and mother, the latter of whom from 

 that moment forward lost all sense of loneli- 

 ness. 



All that time ' k The Druid " lived on terms 

 of great intimacy with Rev. Dr. Sharpe, vicar 

 of Doncaster. The parish church of St. 

 George's was one of the oldest and most in- 

 teresting in Yorkshire, and its central tower 

 was celebrated far and wide. 1 1 was the church 

 bells of St. George's which sounded so pleas- 

 antly in the ears of "Dr. Dove," whom 

 Southey has immortalised in his " Doctor " 

 — a book in which " The Druid " took o-reat 

 delight, and from which he quoted freely in his 

 description of Doncaster race-course in "Silk 

 and Scarlet." Unfortunately, this church was 

 totally destroyed by fire on February 28, 

 1853, and was rebuilt at a cost of ,£45,000 

 by public subscription, Sir Gilbert G. Scott, 

 whose reputation in the eyes of posterity may 



